


splish, splash, splosh

by renecdote



Series: hc_bingo 2018 [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alfred is a sentimental grandpa, Bath Time, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Toddler Damian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 12:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15170987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renecdote/pseuds/renecdote
Summary: Damian splashes in the bubbles forming around him and babbles happily - whether to Alfred or the black Batman-ducky bobbing along in front of him isn’t clear.Alfred gives toddler Damian a bath and thinks about family.





	splish, splash, splosh

**Author's Note:**

> This fills the "washing / bathing someone" square on my hurt/comfort bingo card. For once, it's very much more comfort than hurt :)

The room smells like apples. Not the fresh, crisp kind from the ageing trees in the orchard, but the sweet, faintly chemical scent of apple flavoured products. It’s the scent of cheap bath bombs and body wash and, in this case, no tears baby shampoo. Alfred squirts another dollop of the stuff on his hands and rubs them through Damian’s hair, teasing the short strands until they stand upright in a neat row down the toddler’s head. He risks getting his phone wet to snap a picture, then smoothes the mohawk down. Damian splashes in the bubbles forming around him and babbles happily - whether to Alfred or the black Batman-ducky bobbing along in front of him isn’t clear.

Alfred smiles, remembering countless similar baths with another toddler almost fifty years ago. It hadn’t been Alfred’s job to bath Wayne toddlers back then, but Bruce had been much less fond of baths than Damian seems to be and getting him in the tub was often a whole household affair. Bath time had often been met with screaming and crying and much “hiding” under furniture. Once in the water though, he had been just as fond of the bubbles and his enormous collection of bath toys.

Today’s Batman-themed rubber duck is not one of Bruce’s relics. It had been a gift from Barbara when she heard about the magical mishap that turned Damian into a toddler. A well-timed one, too, since only a few hours later Damian had gotten into a bucket of honey while “assisting” Alfred in the kitchen and smeared the sticky substance all over himself, Alfred and the kitchen floor. Jason is downstairs taking care of that mess while Alfred cleans the messy toddler. 

The tiles beneath Alfred’s knees are hard even with the plush bathmat between them but he doesn’t mind the strain. His coat and vest have been abandoned on the floor, in need of dry cleaning to get all that honey out of the material, and his shirt sleeves are rolled up so as not to get wet. Not that it has saved his shirt from the soapy water which Damian takes great glee in splashing in every direction.

Carefully, Alfred covers Damian’s eyes and uses a plastic container to rinse the shampoo out with warm water. Damian giggles, reaching up to cover his eyes over Alfred’s hands. “Peek boo!”

“Yes.” Alfred smiles, remembering Cassandra and Stephanie sitting on the floor of the den playing with Damian this morning. It hadn’t taken him long to pick up the game, he’s a smart kid. “Peek-a-boo.”

Damian’s cheeks dimple with his smile. At thirteen his face is just starting to thin and he’s looking more and more like Talia every day, but with the baby fat he looks so much like Bruce did. Chubby cheeks and a button nose and ears that stick out just a little too far. His damp hair curls slightly and Alfred knows exactly where cowlicks are going to come through more prominently in a few years, one particularly stubborn one on his crown just like his father. 

Damian screws up his nose at the water that runs down his face while the shampoo is being rinsed out of his hair. He sticks out his tongue then makes a disgusted face when a some of the apple flavoured suds hit his tastebuds. Alfred chuckles.

“Not as good as the apples you had last night, is it?”

Damian looks at him like he’s been betrayed. 

Alfred makes sure all the shampoo has been thoroughly washed out then sits back on his heels. “I think you’re clean enough, don’t you?” he asks, reaching for the towel he’d set aside out of the splash zone earlier. It’s soft from wear, with a cartoon Wonder Woman on one side, and Alfred has no idea how it found its way into the Manor. He suspects Jason may have had something to do with it.

“Alfred!” The yell echoes through the halls, preceding footsteps that thump up the stairs. A moment later Tim appears in the doorway. “Alfred, Jason said- oh my god, it’s true.”

“Marvellous timing,” Alfre says. He wraps Damian in the towel much too large for his tiny body and hands him to Tim. “If you could hold Master Damian for a moment...”

Tim takes the toddler automatically, fumbling for a moment before wrapping his arms around Damian and holding him against his hip. Damian fusses for a moment, kicking and whimpering, but then he grabs a fistful of Tim’s hoodie and settles.

“Ba!”

Alfred glances at the Batman logo emblazoned across Tim’s hoodie. Since Jason returned to the Manor with a toddler-sized Damian last night, various members of the family have gifted the toddler with every appropriate Bat-themed item they could find. A blanket, a pair of socks, a onesie, several plushies, and of course the rubber duck. Most of it is a shameless bid for favouritism, but Alfred suspects they also enjoy spoiling the youngest without Damian’s usual walls masking his delight at the gifts. 

Tim is staring down at Damian like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. Damian looks back at him, babbling seriously, a few more recognisable words thrown in. “No” is a particular favourite, as is the shortened form of “bat”. He grabs at Tim’s hair and Tim winces, carefully pulling Damian’s hand away.

“Alfred,” Tim says, face pleading.

“You’re doing fine,” Alfred says. He lets the water out of the bath then wipes down the tub down, wringing out the washcloth and draping it over the tap to dry. The rubber ducky gets placed on the shelf above the bath, beside the baby shampoo and various soap products. Alfred looks at the pile of sticky clothing on the floor and decides he’ll deal with those later.

Damian has stopped trying to grab Tim’s hair. Warm and cozy and clean from his bath, he yawns and rests his head against Tim’s shoulder. He mumbles something and pats the Batman logo on Tim’s chest. Tim stands completely still. 

The batman onesie was lost to the honey incident but someone (Alfred suspects Cassandra) had snuck in a Superman one as well. Alfred takes Damian from Tim and the toddler whimpers. He's sleepy and malleable in Alfred's hands as he carries him into the attached bedroom and lies him down on the bed to put on a diaper then the onesie. Alfred gently rubs the towel over his soft hair so it’s not dripping wet. Tim hangs back and watches.

"He's so... calm," he says, wonderment in his voice. 

Alfred smiles. There'll be another tantrum later and then Tim won't think Damian is so calm. He’s been happy most of the day, much more chatty than last night as he became more comfortable, but Alfred knows from Jason’s retelling of last night that tearful hysterics are still a possibility. 

Damian is making a valiant effort to keep his eyes open, head nodding then bouncing back up every few seconds. He whines when he's picked back up, squirming until Alfred bounces him slightly. At twelve months old Damian should be crawling and toddling his way around the Manor, but he seems content to indulge all the people who want to carry him. And there are a lot of them, everyone charmed by Damian's grumpy little face and toothless smiles. 

"It's a bit late for a nap," Alfred says, commenting as much to Damian as to Tim, "but I think we can make an exception since this isn't permanent."

Tim trails him out of the bedroom. "How long will it last?" he asks. 

"We're not sure yet," Alfred replies. "Master Bruce has contacted Zatanna about a cure and Jason is working with Cassandra and Barbara to find the person who did this."

Alfred pushes open the door of a seldom visited room. The nursery used to be much further away when there were live-in nannies to care for the Wayne children, but Martha and Thomas had been much more hands-on parents and wanted their child closer. So a spare bedroom just down from the master suite had been remodelled into a nursery, with soft carpet and large windows through which the afternoon sun warms the room now. 

Damian fusses when he's set down in the cot, crying a little at being separated from the person carrying him. "Hush," Alfred murmurs, tucking one of the Batman plushies beside him. Tim leans over the side, reaching down to touch the toddler. Damian immediately grabs his fingers. Tim tugs slightly and the toddler only holds on tighter. He’s a surprisingly clingy child. Alfred’s heart aches when he thinks of why he grew up to be such a prickly preteen. The longer Damian spends in Gotham though, the more those walls come down and a little of the spirited, cuddly child shines through.

"This is so weird," Tim says. He gives up on reclaiming his finger and just watches as Damian's eyes flutter, losing the battle with sleep. 

Alfred watches as well, a soft smile on his face. "Indeed," he says. "But hardly the weirdest thing we've dealt with."

There's a brand new baby monitor still in its packaging on the dresser beside the cot, another gift from Miss Gordon. Alfred sets it up and turns it on, clipping the portable unit onto his belt. 

“Will he be alright by himself?” Tim asks. Damian’s grip has gone slack in sleep and he’s able to pull his hand away, but he doesn’t move away from the cot. 

“He’ll be fine,” Alfred says. “Although I doubt he’ll be left alone for long. Make sure nobody wakes him up when they come to coo over him.”

“Alright,” Tim says absently. His phone is out and he’s smiling as he takes a picture of his younger brother. 

Alfred leaves to wash the clothes that were dirtied in the honey incident, trusting that Damian is in good hands.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [here](http://tantalum-cobalt.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
